I. Soaking before decoction Add cold water over the surface of the medicine, soak through and then decoct, the active ingredients are easy to decoct. Generally, soaking for about 30 minutes is sufficient, but it should be treated according to the difference in texture, season and temperature of the herbs themselves. Flowers, herbs and leaves can be soaked for 20 minutes; roots, seeds, fruits and ores, crustaceans should be soaked for 30 to 60 minutes. In short, the herbs should be soaked through. 1.Water washing may make the water-soluble ingredients of the herbs lost: as many herbs contain sugar and glycosides, which can be dissolved in water, after water washing, part of the active ingredients will be lost, resulting in reduced efficacy. 2.Water washing can make the loss of powdered herbs: many herbs in Chinese medicine are powdered, and some need to be crushed when dispensing, such as peach kernel, keel, talcum powder, etc. If washed with water, it will cause the loss of these drugs. 3, water washing can lead to the loss of some herbs excipients: as some herbs in the process of preparation added honey, wine, bile and other excipients, and these excipients are easily dissolved in water, if water washing, can lead to the loss of some excipients. For example, the commonly used herbs such as bile south star and wine rhubarb. Therefore, it is not advisable to rinse the herbs with water before decocting them to avoid losing the ingredients and affecting the efficacy of the drugs. The decoction container is closely related to the quality of the herbal solution, and the use of ceramics and tile pots is recommended. It is not advisable to use iron and copper pots, and it is better not to use aluminum pots and stainless steel and enamel containers for decoction, because some drugs will precipitate after encountering tin, iron and other metals, reducing solubility and even causing chemical changes, resulting in side effects. Decoction water selection Decoction of Chinese medicine should use clean cold water, such as tap water, well water, distilled water, etc. The amount of water used should be determined by the weight, volume, water absorption capacity, decoction time, fire and the amount of medicine required, etc. Generally, it is appropriate to diffuse the water over the medicine by about half an inch. The amount of water used for decoction should be added once, not several times in the middle, not to add water to dry the drug and then add water to re-decoction, and the dry drug should be discarded. V. Decoction of the fire decoction of Chinese medicine has a “martial fire, fire”, urgent decoction of the “martial fire”, slow decoction of the “fire”. Generally, boil with martial fire, and then boil with civil fire for 20-30 minutes, and boil with civil fire for 30–40 minutes after the second decoction. If the decoction time is long, it needs to be stirred 2 to 3 times, and different prescriptions need different decoction times. The decoction time should be short for sweating and relieving symptoms of external symptoms, and long for tonic medicines for deficiency symptoms. In order to prevent the drug from stimulating the stomach and intestines, it should be taken half an hour to one hour after meals, and the time between two doses of Chinese medicine should be more than 4 hours. Generally, a dose is divided into 2 to 3 servings, one dose a day, served warm. In case of special circumstances, two doses can be taken in a row in a day to enhance the therapeutic effect. Some people often do not cover the pot when decocting Chinese medicine for the convenience of operation. We would like to remind patients that they should not forget to cover the lid when decocting Chinese medicine. It has been researched that most plant-based herbal medicines contain volatile oil. In medicine, volatile oil has the functions of wind repellent, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and analgesic. However, the solubility of volatile oils in water is very small, and the specific gravity of most volatile oils is lighter than water, so they can easily evaporate with the water vapor. If the Chinese medicine is decocted without a lid, the active ingredients in the Chinese medicine will easily “run” out with the water vapor, reducing the efficacy of the medicine. The longer you decoct Chinese medicine, the stronger it is. In everyday life, most people think that the thicker the Chinese medicine is, the better the effect, and the longer the decoction time, the more active ingredients there are, but this is not true. Decoction of Chinese herbal medicine is a process of releasing and dissolving the active ingredients in the herbal medicine. When the concentration of the active ingredients in the herbal medicine and the liquid is balanced, the process stops. It can be seen that the longer the decoction, the better. The time required for decoction varies with different prescriptions and should be followed. The reason why Chinese medicine can cure diseases is that it contains alkaloids, saponins, tannins and other active ingredients. If the decoction time of Chinese medicine is too short, the active ingredients will not be decocted. However, once the herbs are burnt, their properties will change. For example, when a tonic herb is decocted, its taste will change from sweet to bitter, and it is impossible to play a tonic role; when a blood-stasis drug is decocted, it will become a hemostatic drug. Most of the active ingredients of herbal medicines will be destroyed after decoction, and even the effect will be opposite, so that what should clear heat cannot clear heat and what should nourish cannot nourish. Therefore, Chinese medicines should be discarded after decoction.